Scientists name the Tilcaya cat as a new species — the first new living feline found in over a century

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

A wild cat smaller than a domestic moggy, housed at a rescue sanctuary in Bolivia — the only confirmed living member of the newly named species Leopardus tilcayo, first mistaken for a domestic kitten.

A tiny wild cat known to Bolivian communities for generations has been formally confirmed as an entirely new species, the first new living feline named in more than 100 years. The Tilcaya cat, or Leopardus tilcayo, was discovered in the Yungas cloud forests of Bolivia and is smaller than a typical domestic cat, weighing just 1.4kg and measuring 46cm long. The breakthrough came after researchers analysed DNA from living animals and museum specimens across South America. Only two living individuals are currently known to science.

The discovery began with Tigrino, a 10-year-old rescue cat at Bolivia's Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary, who a local resident initially mistook for a stray kitten.

Lead researcher Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz said: 'It's amazing that there are still new species waiting to be discovered — we don't have to go to a volcano or deep into the sea.'

The study, published in Current Biology, also identified a subspecies in Peru's Yungas, named after a region of the ancient Inca Empire.

APMeet Earth’s newest wild cat species, the first named in over a century Irish IndependentNew cat species identified in Bolivia is first in more than 100 years PBSMeet Earth’s newest wild cat species, living in Bolivia and the first named in over a century - PBS The IndependentA man thought he’d found a stray kitten. It turned out to be a new species of wild cat

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